this point). Finally, one can notice that nowhere in this book or else where
in his theory or practice did Tschichold give any sustained attention to the
issue of setting continuous text unjustified or ragged (and with equal
word-spaces). It was left to others to explore this seemingly logical exten
sion of the principle of asymmetry.31
STANDARDIZATION
Norms and stanciards play a fundamental part in the argument of Die neue
Typographie, and this may also be the element in the book that now needs
most explanation. In the modern movement as a whole, the promise held
out by standardization can be briefly summarized: this was a means for
bringing order to industrialized societies. for settling some of the funda
mental elements of life. Producers, users, and intermediaries would be able
to act more freely once these basic factors had been determined. In design,
as Tschichold's discussion here recognizes. there were some awkward
nesses and paradoxes. Would not standardization (of paper sizes, or of the
layout of business stationery) limit invention and variety? Could standard
ization embody good design principles?
The standards described in this book are those of the Deutscher Nor
menausschuss. a body whose history reached back into the nineteenth
century.3^2 Initially (since 1850) there had been the Verein Deutscher
lngenieure, which formed a committee on standardization (Normalien
ausschuss der VDI). During the First World War. the need to mobilize
industry for maximally efficient production gave a strong impulse to the
standards effort. And the conditions of impoverishment and disorganization
in Germany, following defeat in that war, only provided further stimulus. In
1917 , the VOl's committee had become the Normenausschuss der
Deutschen lndustrie, which in 1926 had become the Deutscher Normen
ausschuss. This genealogy suggests one ground for the attraction that
standardization held for modernist designers. This really did seem to be the
voice of the engineer, issuing in very exact recommendations for the design
of artefacts. Standards seemed to embody a collective wisdom. as against
the willful arbitrariness of individual expression.
The standards for printed matter that Tschichold mainly refers to were gen
erated from within a particular sector of interest: the rationalization move
ment in industry and in office-work. Here one can observe a familiar para
dox in the modern movement: a system of beliefs that often encompassed
revolutionary socialism and (capitalist) theories of business-efficiency.33
The most vivid precedent here was Lenin's espousal for the Soviet Union of
a Taylorist approach to industrial organization. The prime mover behind the
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